, 1887-06-09
OLD SORREL.
OF obscure birth.
He achieved fame.
The faithful servant
OF a noble master.
He died March Il. 1886.

Age. 80 Years.
The tough little horse would endure any
amount Of hard riding without signs of fag-
ging; if, however, his rider disnlumitc,i. he
would refresh himself by promptly living
down without waiting to have the trappiugs
removed. Although the saddle suffered from
the contact with the earth his owner would
not allow him to be disturbed The horse
was very fond of apples, and the general
always remembered him when that deli
cacy could be had. Little Sorrel" soon
became a thoroughly trained steed. If his
rider was deep i'll the mysteries of some plans
he would suit his gait to the humor: lie often
heard the soft accents of n mUttered PRAYER
and bore himself with show of soIemnity
until some dashing courier on a spirited horse
or the "sOng of a shell" aroused him to bear
himself like the war horse that lie was The
horse loved the roar of battle and the rush of
n charge, and chafed under n close rein
and n dogged retreat. Jackson did not
know music, and once showed his dullness for
it by asking a young lady if she had ever
heard song called "Dixie," and when she
had finished singing it he seemed much pleased
but did not recognize the air played every
day by the bands i'll the army. But there was
one kind of music which he always recog-
nized-it was the ''yelln with which his troops
always greeted him when he appeared before
them He always acknowledged the compli-
ment by taking off his gray cap, and Little
Sorrel," catching the inspiration of the mo-
ment, would break into gallop and continue
it until the sound had ceased. The inmates
of the Soldiers Home say that up to the
last he retained his fondneSS for the sound of
Il gun; that when the boys would fire rapidly
in the neighborhood, killing robbins, the
horse would trot off in the direction and look
over the fence with great interest; turning
with the change of direction lie would trot
off in search of the sound. 1t is rather re-
markable that the horse was never wounded,
although he bore jackson through his cam
paigns of Romney, Mcdowell, Port Republic.
Winchester, Gross Keys, Cold Harbor, Second
Manassas, Fredericksburg, and the fatal field
of ChancellorsviIle. During the Maryland
campaign he rode a handsome gray, pre-
sented to him by an admiring Maryiander,
and came near losing his life by the horse
falling on him. He had also very haml-
some sorrel presented to him by the people of
Augusta, Ga.
1t was at Charlottesville, after vigorous
stroke, when Jackson by q prompt move
ment had cut Hooker's line in two, capturing
many prisoners and guns, that Little Sorrel'
was TO lose his most devoted friend. 1t ap-
pears that Jackson rode out with three or
four members of his staff to recounoiter:
when they returned it was dark. The troops
that saw him pass out down the road had been
relieved by others, who were instructed to
fire upon the approach of anything indicating
the enemy; these We're startled by the ap-
proach Of horses hoofs in a rapid canter and
delivered one or two vOlleys. The result of
this assault was the unhorsing of jackson
with wound in the right hand, another in
the upper part of the right arm and a third in
the left arm. These wounds were not neceS-
sarily fatal, but soon after he took to his bed
rueumonia developed, with n fatal result.
Little SOrIel" was stampeded when the con-
fusion that followed the terrible accident was
at its height; it was feared that the little
horse had escaped into the snemy's lines. The
next day some of Stuart's men found him
and returned him to headquarters. After the
death of Jackson the favOrite of the camp
was sent TO Mrs Jackson at her home near
Charlotte, n. c. y few years ago, i'll response
to an urgent request, she sent him TO the Vir-
Ginia Military institute, where her husband
was professor at the beginning of the war.
The horse was sent to the New Orleans expo
sition to be exhibited for the benefit of the
Confederate Home" and for the jackson
monument fund. His life was shortened by
the trip and by cold contracted while south.
After his return he was consigned to the care
of the inmates of the Home near Rich
momd; some of them having kept step with
him i'll the trying times when their beloved
leader was ON his back The horse was ali
object of much interest to visitors To the
Soldiers Home" and great Ie5 with the
veterans a poetic lady of Rithmond has
inscribed some very pretty lines to the noted
animal under the title of the dying War
Horse"
Old Sorrel has passed though the 'mani-
kin method" of taNidermy, and fair presen-
tation of the original has been secured. His
skeleton Is also to be articulated.
As the horse had been allowed to go unshod
from the time he was carried from the battle
field his hoofs had grown to an enormous
length: these were trimmed TO the proper
size. The position given the horse Is an easy
one, on an inclined plane finished to repre-
sent stone With proper care the horse
will last for many years. Certain it Is that
those who look upon the completed work,
with little play OF the imagination, can see
the crlci'.sted war horse, true to life, save in
animation PERCY CLARK